QuadTech Enhances Ribbon Control System with Servo-Driven Speed Matching Capabilities

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Press release from the issuing company

Sussex, Wisconsin, USA – Press controls manufacturer QuadTech has enhanced its Ribbon Control System with MultiCam, for print-to-cut applications by adding servo drives and motors that will allow improved cutoff on folding carton presses.

The additional servo drive controls the metering roll-located before the die cutter-and counteracts speed discrepancies between the press and cutter.

While the camera is in manual mode, the servo drive monitors the press speed and the position of the dancer, in order to determine the correct speed to turn the metering roll. If the dancer position changes, it aligns its speed to that of the press. If the camera is in automatic mode, the servo will also monitor the moves issued by the camera. If it issues a move, the target position of the dancer will change and the drive will briefly speed up or slow down the metering roll to hold this new position.

"Synchronizing die-cutting speeds to exactly match cutoff is one of the keys to optimizing productivity in inline configurations on web offset and carton board converting lines," says Jim Toomey, product manager at QuadTech. "Our Ribbon Control System with MultiCam now adds extra control to the print-to-cut register process to ensure maximum throughput."

The Ribbon Control System with MultiCam is a computerized, closed-loop, print-to-cut and print-to-fold registration system that uses cutoff and sidelay compensators to control registration in circumferential and lateral directions respectively. The system resides on the company's ICON platform, which acts as a common user interface for QuadTech's press controls.

The compact, low-profile MultiCam camera, monitoring the metering roll, provides outstanding register quality by identifying register marks as small as 0.36mm (0.014in) and searching for marks at a rate of 30 times per second. The camera also comes with a long-life LED light source and a low-maintenance OptiGuard system to reduce cleaning cycles.